Circuit-interrupting device.



A. E. LUNDELLA CIRCUIT INTERRUPTING DEVICE- APPLICATION FILED AUGJB;I916. i ,Q'YQJZ FQ; Patented July 9,1918. Fm

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35 in which they are interconnected. In Fig.

- UNITED snares PATENT OFFICE.

ALBEN E. LUNDELL, 03. NEW 'YGBK, N. 'Y., ASSIG-NOR TO WESTERN ELECTRICCOMPANY, INCORPORATED, 015 NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CIECUIT-INTERRUPTING DEVICE.

I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBEN E. LUNDELL,

a citizen of the United States, residing at ing mechanism fails for anyreason, the re-' sultant stopping of the interrupter may cause more orless serlous diiiiculties to arise in the system in which it is used.

connection of individually driven. inter- It is the object of thisinvention to employ a plurality of interrupters of :suclncharacteristics and so connected that interruptions of the circuit ofwhich they are a part .will continue to take place, eventhough one ormore of such interrupters should be disabled.

A feature of this invention is the series rupters which have suchcharacteristics that impulses may be sent while any or all such"interrupter-s are inoperation.

It is thought'that the 'nvention will be 4 best understood from theollowing detailed description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings.

In the ,tlrawings, Figure 1 shows diagrammatically two interrupters andthe manner 2 the successive positions assumed by the segments of bothinterrupters under their respective brushes at various time intervalsare diagrammatically indicated.

In Fig. 1 are shown two interrupters I, II. Interrupter I consists of abrush 20 arranged to be driven by a shaft 21 over segments of conductingmaterial 22, 23, 24, 25 26 and 27 such conducting segments beingseparated by suitable insulatingpon tions 28. Brush 20 is suffi ientlywide to make contact across adjacent segments when passing insulatingportions 28. Conductor 29' is multipled to segments 22, 24 and 26 asshown in Fig. 1, it being extended to interrupter II by conductor 30.Conductor 31 is multipled to conducting segments 23, 25 and 27, it beingextended to interrupter H by conductor 32.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 16, 1916. Serial No. 115,211.

The general structure of interrupter IT is similar to that ofinterrupter I. A brilsh 33 carried 'by the shaft 3% is arranged to swingover conducting segments 35, 36, 37 and 38, such conducting segmentsbeing separated by insulation, as indicated at 39. Conducting segments35- and 37 are connected to a common conductor 40 having a con nectionto conductor 32, while conducting --segments 36 and 38 are connected toa com mon conductor 41 having a connection to common conductor 30.. Anincoming portion of the circuit to beinterrupted is shown at 42 and isin electrical connection. with brush 20,-the outgoing end of suchcircuitbeing indicated by conductor 43, which is in electrical connection withbrush 33. Shafts The shaft 21 on which bluish 20 is mounted v isprovided with a collar 50 to which is secured at flexible spider 51carrying'adisk,-

of magnetic material 52. A constantlyv r0- tating power shaft 53 isdriven in'any de-' sired manner and carries a' disk 54 rigidly securedthereto. An electromagnet 55 .is

positioned in operative relation to the disk I 52, the arrangement beingsuch. that upon energization of magnet 55 disk 52 will be magneticallyattracted, and dueto the resiliency of the spider 51 will be forced intoengagement with the rotating disk inember I 54, with theresult thatrotati'on'of the shaft 21 may be accomplished. Rigidl y secured to thecollar 50 is a'disk 56, the periphery of this disk being provided with.a sinuous track portion 57 in which a roller 58 travels. The roller 58is carried by a spring member 59 which is rigidly secured to the frameof the device in any desired manner; The purpose of roller 58 is toprevent the interrupter from sto 1n in an undesired osition as I D I 1for instance, with the brush 20 spanning two adjacent conductingportions. The pressure on roller 58 bymeans of the spring.

member 59 is suiilcient to cause the spring member to force the-shaft 21to be rotated until the roller restsin a depression in the track 57. Thetrack 57 is arranged insuch a way that at the time brush 20 is spanningtwo adjacent segments, the roller 58 will justhavingpass ed or will justbe approachihg a peak of trams-1:57: is obvious that if the magnet 55 isdenergized at a'time when the brush 20 is spanning two segments, thepressure of roller 58 will cause the brush to be advanced sufficientlyeither in a counter-cloclqwise or a clockwise direction to insure thatthe'brush no longer spans both segments.

In order to more clearly understand the description, it will be assumedthat it requires two-tenths of a second for brush 20 to pass oversegments 22, 24 and 26, and SIX- tenths of a second for brush 20 to passover segments 23, 25 and 27. The spacing of.

the segments in interrupter II is such that it will require two-tenthsof a second for brush 33 to swing over segments 35 and 37, and onesecond for it to pass over segments 36 'and'38. It will be noticed thatin each interrupter-s is shown in Fig. 1 and that they start together torevolve at approxi-' mately the same speed, impulses may be sent at thefollowing times: lrVhen brush 20 is spanning both segments 22 and 23 andbrush 33 is spanning segments 35 and-36, circuit will be completed fromcondutor 42, brush 20, segment 22, conductors 29, 30, 41, segment 36,brush 33', to conductor 43. No

' impulses will now be sent until brush 20 arrives on segment 24, atwhich time'a circuit Wlll be completed from conductor 42,

brush 20, segment 24, conductors 29, 30, 41,

segment 36, brush 33, to conductor 43. When brush 33 engages segment 37,a circuit will again be completed from conductor 42, brush 20 now onsegment 25, conductors 31, 32, 40, segment 37, brush 33, to conductor43. When brush 20 arrives on conductor 26, a circuit will be completedfrom conductor 42, brush 20, segment 26, conductors 29, 30, 41, segment38 and brush'33, to conductor 43. \Vhen brush 2O spans conductors 27,and 22, brush 33 will be spanning segments 38 and 35, and a circuit willbe completed from conductor 42, brush 20, segment 27, conductors 31, 32,40, segment 35 and brush 33, to conductor 43. When the brushes areprevented from stopping in Let us assume now that interrupter I isdisabled and ceases rotation, it being further assumed that the brush 20remains in posi-' tion over one of the segments 22, 24 and 26. A circuitclosure will now be made whenever brush 33 engages either segment 36 or38. If brush 20 had stopped on one of the segments 23, or 27, a circuitclosure would have taken place every time brush 33 passed over segments35 and 37. It the brush 20 should stop so as to make contact across twosegments normally insulated from each other, interruptions would nottake place. I-lowevcr,-the mechanical means used in connection with theinterrupters prevents the stopping of the brush in this particularposition.

It, now, brush 33 should stop on either segment 35 or 37, circuit wouldbe closed from conductor 42 to conductor 43 each time brush 2O engagedone of segments 23, 25, 27. If brush 33 should stop on one of segments36 or 38, circuit would be closedfrom conductor 42 to conchu-tor 43 eachtime brush 20 engages a segment 22, 24, or 26. Brush 33 a position suchthat it would engage two conducting segments at the same time bymechanical means as above mentioned.

It isof course obvious that the particular time required for a brush topass over segments, and the length of such segments is ing position bethat assumed in the previous description, the condition assumed beingmerely one of a number of possible arrangements. Since, however, thegeneral operation under all conditions would be similar to thatpreviously described, further description of the operation of the devicehas not been considered necessary,

\Vhat is claimed is:

1. In an electrical system, a plurality of interrupting devices, acircuit including said interrupting devices, and means for establishingan interconnection between said interrupting devices such that saidcircuit will continue to be interrupted while any or all of saidinterrupting devices are in operation.

2. In an electrical system, a plurality of interrupting devices, acircuit includingsaid interrupting devices, driving mechanism individualto said interrupting devices, mechanical means for preventing said interrupting'devices from stopping in certain po sitions, and means forestablishing an interconnection between said interrupting devices suchthat said circuit will continue to be innot material to the invention,since many.

swing over a plurality of conducting segments, said conducting segmentsbeing of.

various lengths and separated by insulating segments, the conductingsegments in the several interrupting devices being arranged to causecircuit closures varying in number and duration, and means forestablishing an interconnection between the conducting segments of theseveral interrupters such that said circuit will continue to beinterrupted and duration,

segments while passing while any or all of said interrupting devices arein operation.

4. In an electrical system; a plurality of interrupting devices, acircuit including said interrupting devices, each ofsaid interruptingdevices comprising a brush arranged to swing over a, plurality ofconductin segments, said conducting segments being of various lengthsand separated by insulating segments, the conducting segments in theseveral interrupting devices being arranged to cause circuit closuresvarying in number said brushes being arranged to make. contact acrossadjacent conducting an insulating segeach 'of said interrupt-- ment,mechanical means for preventing said brush from stopping in engagementwith two conducting segments} and 9 means for establishing aninterconnection between said interrupting devices such that said circuitwill continue to be or all of said interrupting devices are inoperation.

5. In an electrical system, two interrupting devices, each of saidinterrupting devices comprising a brush arranged to swing over aplurality of conducting segments, said conducting segments bein ofvarious lengths and separated by insu ating segments, the circuitclosures caused by said interrupting devices when operating singly beingof different characteristics, a circuit including said 'interruptindevices in series, I and means for estab ishing an interconnectionbetween said interrupting devices such that said circuit will continueto be interrupted while any or all of said interrupting devices are inoperation.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 15th day ofAugust, A. D., 1916.

ALBEN E. LUNDELL.

interrupted while any

